Home School Follies
by Comp450
Summary: Harry won't let his daughter go to Hogwarts for some reason. Lily is determined to find out why. Also, Voldemort is back again.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! Welcome to my work of fan fiction! A bit of a disclaimer: it's been a long time since I've read the books. I have read all of them, but…only once each. So I may have forgotten several important details about the series. I apologize for anything that conflicts with the cannon._

_This is post-epilogue._

**Home School Follies: Chapter One**

_**A work of fan fiction by Comp450**_

"Welcome home, Lily."

Lily Potter was greeted by her mother as always with a season-appropriate beverage. Today was a paper cup of some sort of red sugar juice. She took it gratefully and downed it in one gulp. Walking home was thirsty work.

"Did the letter come today?" Lily asked as soon as she pulled the cup away from her lips. She swung her backpack off her shoulders.

Ginny took her backpack. She wore a strange expression on her face, just like she did every time Lily asked that question. "Not today, sweetie." She hung the backpack up on a dining room chair.

Lily frowned, but shrugged it off. So the letter was late. Perhaps the owl got hurt on the way. They'd just send another one as soon as they realized it hadn't gotten to her. Still, after two weeks since she had turned eleven, Lily was getting worried. Albus got his letter an hour after he turned eleven, and James got his only two days after.

"Do you have a lot of homework today?" Her mother effortlessly changed the conversation from one of disappointment to one of drudgery.

"Kind of. I need to finish my book report and I have a page of multiplication." Lily sighed. "But who cares, right? I won't need to do math in Hogwarts!"

Ginny clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Nonsense," she scolded, but didn't try to give a counter-example. Lily scowled. Her mother directed her to the dining room table and took out her math homework for her. She set the two pages of multiplication exercises in front of her daughter. "If you finish this before 5, you can take a break before working on your book report."

That would be easy. Lily was good at math. Her parents had pushed her in her muggle studies more than they did for her brothers, why that was she didn't know. But it meant that she could go through her primary school homework quickly.

About a half hour in, she was at the last ten problems. They were more difficult than the rest, and so she was concentrating so hard that she almost didn't notice her father coming home. He gave her a kiss on the top of the head when he came inside, but otherwise didn't interrupt her. Lily watched him from her peripheral vision; he walked around the table and followed her mother into the bedroom and close the door.

Lily put down her pencil as she finished the last problem and smiled. It was only 4 o'clock! She could play for at least an hour before her mother remembered her book report. She got up from the table and walked past her parents' room to the stairwell that led to her room. She stopped at the second step when she heard her mother's voice. It was strange that they should be talking in the afternoon (Lily had an idea of what they did instead, but she tried not to think too hard about it).

"She's getting worried, Harry," she heard her mother say. Lily crouched down against the wall. "I think you should tell her now."

"I was going to wait until school let out…" this was her father's voice.

"What's the purpose of that? It will be worse if her brothers are here when you tell her. She'll be more embarrassed."

"Why don't you tell her if you think now is a good time?"

"Because it was your idea!"

"But you agreed!"

Lily was expecting a retort from her mother, but instead the bedroom door swung open, too quickly for Lily to run upstairs before her father saw her.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, then her father tried to speak to her. "Lily…"

"What's going on?" Lily interrupted her father, hoping to avoid a lecture for eavesdropping. "What do you need to tell me?" Whatever it was, she probably didn't want to know, but if they were going to tell her anyway, it might as well be on her terms.

Harry sighed. He took his daughter's hand and led her back to the dining room, where he sat across from her at the table. "Lily, I have bad news for you."

Like she thought, she probably didn't want to know. Did someone die? Were her parents getting divorced?

"You won't be going to Hogwarts in the fall."

What? Why couldn't her grandmother have died? Why couldn't her parents just hate each other? "But I'm magical!" Lily found her voice. "I'm not a squib! I know I'm not!"

"Of course you're not, Lily." This was her mother. She had come into the room and was standing behind her.

Her father nodded. "That's not why we decided this. You'll be taking lessons from your mother and me here at home."

"That's even worse than being a squib!" Lily could feel tears at the back of her eyes. "I want to go to school with James and Albus and make friends!"

"Don't worry, Lily, this isn't all bad!" Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be able to stay with your friends at the muggle school, and there's even a benefit to learning at home that those at Hogwarts don't have!"

"That's right!" Her father winked at her. "I've gotten special permission from the Ministry to let you do magic at home. That means that when your brothers come back for vacations, you'll be allowed to do magic and they won't."

That was pretty cool. But it hardly made up for being stuck at home all year. "So if I'm not a squib, why can't I go to Hogwarts?"

Her parents looked at each other. "It's…complicated," her mother said.

Lily stomped her foot on the ground. "That isn't good enough!" She shouted. Her parents tensed. For some reason they always got nervous when she got angry. This usually allowed her to get what she wanted; they'd sooner spoil her than see her angry.

But they weren't going to tell her anything more, even after she got up and started stomping around the room. And they certainly weren't going to change their minds about Hogwarts. So Lily ran to the stairs.

She was stopped by her mother. "Lily! What about your book report?"

Lily stomped back to the table and grabbed her backpack. She ran back upstairs and slammed her door. "I'll do it my room!" She yelled.

She flopped down on her bed and screamed into her pillow. She cried as hard as she could, and when she was done crying she forced herself to cry more so that her mother and father would know exactly how much pain they caused her. She cried until her throat hurt and then fell asleep.

She woke up again at 7 and had to rush through her book report before bedtime.

Lily went through school the next day in a stupor. She had believed that she wouldn't be with any of these students next year, and so she hadn't made many friends. Now she knew that she'd probably have to be with them until she graduated secondary school, and she became depressed when she realized that she was not the cool lone wolf she thought she was; she was a stupid loser who only hung out with the weird kid.

The weird kid was Matthew. Matthew was a wizard, like Lily was a witch. They had recognized each other as magical the first day they met in first grade. Matthew was a half-blood; his father was a wizard and his mother was a muggle. His father had taken off a long time ago, though, so it was just Matthew and his mom. Lily had made friends with him because she thought they would be together in Hogwarts. But he would be gone next year to that elusive school and Lily would be all alone.

Matthew came up to her during break. She was sitting on a swing in the playground, digging a hole in the dirt with her foot. Matthew sat on the swing next to Lily and asked her what the matter was.

"I'm not going to Hogwarts next year," she said quietly. "I'll be studying at home with Mom and Dad."

Instead of consoling her, Matthew's face lit up. "That's great!" He said. "Getting private instruction, I mean," he clarified when Lily shot him a look. "Especially from Harry Potter! You'll be the best witch ever with a great teacher like that!"

Lily laughed. She knew of her father's fame, but also knew the real stories more than most children her age. "Dad's not a great wizard," she explained to Matthew. "He's a special wizard, but he's not any more powerful than anyone else."

"Still," Matthew persisted, "to say that you were tutored by the great Harry Potter; that would be an honor." They were quiet for a minute. "Hey! I have an idea!"

"And what's that idea?"

"Maybe your dad could teach me, too!"

Lily was shocked. "Don't you want to go to Hogwarts?"

"I want to learn magic, sure," Matthew shrugged. "But I don't really care where. Besides, my mom would like it if I stayed home. She's kind of nervous about the whole wizard thing."

"I'll ask him, I guess." Lily smiled. Maybe she wouldn't be so lonely after all.

Then she got an idea. If Matthew was willing to give up Hogwarts for the prestige of studying under Harry Potter, maybe other kids would be, too. Maybe she could make new friends after all.

If her parents didn't say yes, she would scream and cry until she was so angry that they would do anything she asked.

**End Chapter One**

_So…that's the first chapter! I'll have more coming if I get a decent response. So please review/fav/watch and tell your friends!_

_Please feel free to tell me any mistakes I made. I had spell and grammar check on, so there shouldn't be many problems with that. But I may have made some mistakes about the series universe, and especially about British culture. Send in your corrections in the form of a review!_

_Oh! And if anyone has a better title idea, please tell me! I'm not good with titles…_

_Good luck,_

_Comp450 _


	2. Chapter 2

**Home School Follies: Chapter Two**

_**A Work of Fan Fiction by Comp450**_

"That's preposterous, Lily."

"Why?" Lily demanded. "If it's ok for me to not go to Hogwarts, why does everyone else have to go to Hogwarts?"

"They don't have to go to Hogwarts if they don't want to. But they can't study here."

"Why not?" Lily was relentless.

"Well, for one thing, that would require a completely different permit."

Ginny listened from the kitchen. She was washing the dishes by hand; after everything at Hogwarts, magic had started to stress her out. She preferred to do whatever she could the muggle way. She had, however, cast a spell to make the washing process less loud, and therefore she could listen to her husband and daughter with ease.

"So what? You're Harry Potter! Get a new permit!"

"It's not that simple, Lily!"

Yes it was. Getting the permit to home school his daughter had taken all of two days. It would take Harry maybe a week for a permit to instruct other students. But one of the many reasons they had decided to keep Lily from Hogwarts was to isolate her from the rest of the wizarding community; bringing other magical students into their home would ruin that.

"It's just Mitchell, Harry," Ginny chimed from the kitchen.

"Matthew, Mom," Lily corrected.

Ginny chuckled. "Sorry dear." Maybe it would be ok for that Matthew boy to study with Lily. They already knew each other, anyway, so there was no problem with them continuing to socialize. Besides, if it kept Lily from getting angry…

Harry seemed to have picked up on what Ginny was thinking. He rubbed his chin, which was much harrier than when they were young. Ginny could almost hear the scratching of whiskers from the kitchen. "Well, ok," Harry consented. "If you want Michael-"

"Matthew!" Lily corrected again, frustrated but not in a way that concerned Ginny; Lily knew her parents were just teasing her.

"-if you want Matthew to study with you, I'll send a letter to the Ministry. Your mother and I will stop by Mrs. Peterson's house tomorrow to make sure it's ok with his mother."

Lily squealed with delight. She jumped up and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. Ginny smiled; that was good. They had been encouraging Lily to have a good relationship with Harry ever since-well anyway, it made Ginny happy to see Lily happy.

Ginny finished up on the dishes and joined her husband in the dining room. She sat in the chair Lily had vacated when she ran upstairs in joy. She leaned across the table and took Harry's hands. She looked at the table while she played with his hands, running her fingertips across his palms.

After a few minutes, Ginny voiced her concerns aloud, "Do you think we're making the right decision, Harry?"

"About Matthew? I don't-"

"No, I mean about Lily. About keeping her out of Hogwarts."

Harry sighed and squeezed Ginny's hands. "What else can we do, Gin? With the sorting hat and the outer barriers…"

"I know, I know." Ginny put her chin in her hand and smiled at her husband. "It just seems unfair is all."

Harry nodded but didn't say anything. Nothing needed to be said. Of course it was unfair. It was unfair to Lily of course, and it was unfair to Harry and Ginny, too. But it wasn't something they could change, so they just had to make the best of it.

Ginny stayed with Harry while he dictated a letter to the Ministry to a magic quill that struggled to keep up with his fast-paced thoughts. They tied it to the home's owl, a small brown male they kept in the attic named Feathers (James had named him when he was only three years old). Feathers looked disdainfully up to Ginny, asking with his eyes if he really needed to get up from his comfy perch. She gave him a cinnamon sugar cracker and the owl reluctantly took flight.

"Laziest owl I've ever met," Ginny remarked as she and Harry watched him fly into the sky.

He grabbed Ginny by the waist. "It's because you spoil him so much."

The letter from the Ministry arrived the next day. Lily was at school, and Harry was out on his auror business. Ginny was sitting in the living room when Feathers flew into the open window and landed on her lap. "Welcome home, Feathers!" Ginny knew he wouldn't fly back up to the attic on his own; he would insist on being carried. She really did spoil him.

When she picked him up she noticed the letter attached to his leg. "They sent a letter back with you?" Ginny let the owl perch on the armrest next to her as she read from the letter.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter:_

_We have received you request for a permit to instruct non-relatives in the art of magic. Because you two are well known as a powerful wizard and witch, we give approval for the two of you to instruct up to twenty pupils. The formal license will be sent by owl later this week._

_We also have a request for the two of you. Several of the employees who read your letter brought up an interest on their part to have their children study under you. As an incentive to take this offer, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has agreed to pay you a salary for each student you take on who would have otherwise studied there. Hogwarts is also willing to send special instructors to your home for occasional lectures._

_Please write back with a response,_

_The Ministry of Magic_

Ginny turned the paper over. It was blank, as she expected, but being married to an auror had taught her to always double-check for secret messages. She dug through the couch cushions (her wand was always falling down in there), and when she found her wand she waved it over the paper. Surprisingly, a new message did turn up. The hastily scrawled letters appeared on the paper slowly until Ginny could read it.

_Harry and Ginny,_

_I apologize for the invisible ink here, but I'm not supposed to write you personally and I know one of you will find it._

_Please do take some students into your home. We've been trying to send Hogwarts' students out to other learning facilities already. It's just coincidence that you applied for the permit before we could send a request first. We're in a bit of a crisis, you see. We have reason to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. Please do not panic, we don't think he is at full power yet. But Hogwarts simply cannot handle a small classroom learning environment, and we need our students to have as much attention as possible so as to be fully prepared for any calamity that does occur._

_Please consider helping us,_

_A Friend_

Ginny scowled. Of course Voldemort was returning. He had been returning for years now. How the Ministry thought that the home of Harry Potter would be safer than Hogwarts was beyond her, but it was probably a good idea to do what they said. She and Harry had learned that the Ministry didn't like being denied.

Ginny stood and walked to the storage cabinet. She returned to her seat with a notebook and pen and leaned over the coffee table to write a response. Of course she would make sure Harry didn't object to anything she wrote when he got home, but it didn't hurt to get a head start.

_To the Ministry of Magic:_

The Ministry had a few years before adopted a policy which hid the identities of those working there; to send an official letter, one had to address it to the Ministry at large and the clerks would find the appropriate recipient when it arrived.

_Thank you for this wonderful opportunity! Harry and I would love to teach young witches and wizards. Here are a few rules we have, however: We will be teaching a curriculum that puts defensive spells over offensive spells (in fact, we may choose to not teach any offensive spells at all); We will only take first year students; Since Harry works in the day, class will be in the evening and the students will be expected to attend the local Muggle school during the day. If you and any parents interested can accept these rules, we would be happy to take on any first year witch or wizard (up to twenty of them, as per the limits on our permit)._

_Thank you for your consideration,_

_Ginny Potter_

No need to explain why they had these rules, that was their business and nobody else's. Hopefully the short but precise rules would discourage anyone from wanting their children to bypass Hogwarts. What kind of self respecting wizard would want their children to attend a Muggle school?

**End Chapter Two**

_There you have it, chapter two. Updates probably won't be so regular all the time…as always, send any corrections my way via review!_

_Good luck,_

_Comp450_


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